They number nearly 42 million, and speak over 500 languages. Despite having benefited from the expansion of basic services a decade ago, they remain largely disenfranchised. A World Bank study, Indigenous...

Region’s average growth to remain below zero in 2016 but expected to rebound in 2017Mexico, Central American and Caribbean growing above average this year and nextRegion showing signs of new and necessary...

Challenge Countries in the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) face a number of common challenges in a context of increasing global competitiveness. They have high fiscal imbalances and debt...

Challenge Glaciers in the tropical Andes of South America are a key aspect of the region’s water cycle. Scientific observations have shown that glaciers are retreating, at a higher rate since the 1970’s,...

WASHINGTON, September 13, 2016 — In the lead up to this week’s ‘Our Ocean’ conference hosted by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Washington D.C., a new World Bank report released today examines how...

The report ‘Toward a Blue Economy: A Promise for Sustainable Growth in the Caribbean’ estimates that Caribbean waters generated US$407 billion in 2012. This amount mainly comes from cargo shipped through...

Seventy years ago the eight-hour workday was standardised. The reasoning was simple, this way workers would have 8 hours to sleep, 8 hours at work and a further 8 hours of leisure time to spend as they...

Sixty years ago, average life expectancy in Latin America was 55.7 years. Today, it is nearly 75 years. Improvements in public health, coupled with increases in the quality of life and the level of equality...

Apart from being protagonists to big social and technological changes, Latin America’s youth under 30 years old share another important difference to their older counterparts: they have never experienced...

Upcoming World Bank Regional Conference to discuss the challenges of enhancing transparency and accountability in Latin American and Caribbean MONTEVIDEO, URUGUAY, April 21, 2016 – The World Bank invites...

They are the powerhouses of countries’ economic and cultural activities, but the cities of the world are also major energy consumers: they consume two-thirds of global energy. They are also responsible...

WASHINGTON, April 17, 2016 – The President of the World Bank Group, Jim Yong Kim, issued the following statement after the earthquakes that struck Ecuador and Japan in recent days: “We express our sympathy...

European Union contributes Euro 14 million to Multi-Donor Trust Fund to facilitate access by Central American countries and the DR to insurance facility WASHINGTON, April 15, 2016 - The European Commission...

Indigenous peoples made significant social progress, experienced a reduction in poverty levels in several countries and gained improved access to basic services during the boom of the first decade of the...

For the vast majority of Latin Americans, the simple fact of having electricity at home or in the office is expected, it is the norm. However, both regionally and globally, there are millions of people...

New milestone for the Caribbean Growth ForumWe, the representatives of the countries engaged in the Caribbean Growth Forum initiative, reaffirm our commitment to shape a new agenda for sustainable and...